Dandy Don is the man of the hour. Let's hear it. "Turn out the lights, the party's over," Meredith used to warble.

The Bears refused to turn in their party hats, more stubborn off the field than on. Only time can convince them of what seems more and more inevitable to anyone paying close attention--a very unmerry Christmas is knocking at the door.

"I believe . . . I know we can get into the playoffs," coach Dave Wannstedt insisted. Again. "With three games to go, it'll probably take winning all three."

The Bears' light at the end of the tunnel, no bigger than a mosquito and as easy to swat away, is dimming fast after Monday night's decisive 27-7 loss to Detroit dropped them to eighth in the NFC in the hunt to bag one of six playoff positions--three division winners and three wild cards. That swelling cry you hear out of Chicago is "Go Northwestern."

Da Bears could be done.

Any plans to spend the new year with the Bears and your TV set must be considered a tenuous expectation at best. Check your local listings for late cancellations.

"We are a mediocre team right now, especially after tonight," quarterback Erik Kramer acknowledged. "We got physically whipped. It was as good a game as anyone has ever played against me.

"But there's too much pride in the room to let this happen. I'm not making any predictions (about winning three straight). This is the time of year teams need to step up, and we didn't tonight."

Wannstedt has found the going rough in the Central Division. Now 3-4 against division foes this year, he is assured of a third straight season without a winning record against the teams he has to beat first and foremost. He finished 3-5 in his first two seasons, which raises questions of where the team has progressed.

The Bears have never fared well down the stretch with Wannstedt--or without him, for that matter. If they were racehorses, the pasture would be beckoning. Or the glue factory.

This marked the 15th straight road loss for the Bears in December in a regular-season game. The Bears' last December win outside Soldier Field was 6-3 Dec. 27, 1987, against the Los Angeles Raiders. Only in Chicago can you talk of eight-year losing streaks.

You can't lay the entire trail of tears on Wannstedt's shoulders. But he has a heavy burden all to himself, losing three of his last four games last season to get into the playoffs stumbling and losing the last four games two seasons back to go home without a postseason invitation.

"What makes me upset, angry, discouraged, whatever word you want, is that we're a better team than what we played tonight," Wannstedt said. "How good? I don't know."

The Bears have now lost four of their last five games, bringing them down from a once-promising 6-2 record. After one more road game Sunday at Cincinnati, Tampa Bay and Philadelphia provide the final competition at Soldier Field as the Bears scramble to stay alive.

"We need the confidence that comes from a road win, so we have to win at Cincinnati," offensive tackle Andy Heck said. "If we win all three games left we still have a good shot for the playoffs."

Lions coach Wayne Fontes beat the Bears for the second time in three weeks with a vastly superior defense. Besides saving his job, it could get him into the playoffs. The Lions are now 7-6, same as the Bears and Minnesota.

But while a sweep of the Vikings leaves the Bears holding the upper hand there, the Lions' sweep of the Bears is a problem, not to mention a seemingly uncatchable Green Bay team in the lead.

The Bears are behind Dallas, San Francisco, the Packers, the Eagles, Atlanta, St. Louis and the Lions in search of a spot in the NFC playoffs. Because they trail in tiebreakers, not even a 10-6 record would assure them of the playoffs.

"This was like a slap in the face," safety Marty Carter said. "They had us off-balance early with a couple passes we thought were runs and, before we knew it, it was 14-0. After that it never seemed we could get our heads up to make a play."

The Lions put the clamps on a Chicago offense that has more than done its share this season. Kramer reached a personal milestone when he set a Bears record for most passing yards in a season, surpassing Bill Wade's 3,172 in 1962.

But Kramer was subjected to unusual pressure in this game. Sacked eight times in the first 12 games, Kramer was sacked four times.

"They just whipped us and that's a horrible feeling," Heck said.

Lions quarterback Scott Mitchell completed nine straight passes in the first half. Two of them resulted in touchdowns, a 46-yarder with Herman Moore and a 4-yard dart to a leaping Johnny Morton in the end zone.

Moore was helped along the right sideline to his score by two missed tackles. First, cornerback Kevin Miniefield rushed up and failed low to bring him down. Then, linebacker Joe Cain bounced off Moore along the sidelines as he gathered up a full head of steam.

"No one practices tackling more than we do," Wannstedt said as a disclaimer.

While the Bears had some early success against Barry Sanders, once tackling him for a 2-yard loss, he managed to dent the defense soon and eventually smash them altogether. His versatility was shown in 90 yards rushing, 93 yards receiving--including a 9-yard TD reception.

"They played as perfect a game as I've seen," Carter lamented. "Something's missing with us and it's kind of frustrating we can't find what it is."